SANDY, Utah (Friday,
November 5, 2010) – Major League Soccer today announced that Real
Salt Lake’s Jamison Olave has been named the League’s 2010 Visa Defender of the
Year, as voted on by his fellow players, coaches, general managers, and
media. The 29-year-old Olave beat out his RSL center-back mate Nat Borchers and
the LA Galaxy’s Omar Gonzalez to become the 12th different player to
earn the award in the League’s 15 seasons of play.

The discipline and
attention troubles that plagued Olave in his first two seasons with Real Salt
Lake were a thing of the past in 2010, as the central defender only missed one
game due to yellow card accumulation and proved to be a lynchpin in the Utah
side’s backline. The hulking Colombian’s strength and athleticism were on full
display across his 27 MLS contests, the defender proving just as adept at
boxing out opposing attackers as he was tracking down through balls and stray
passes in RSL’s defensive third.

Olave was an integral
part of the defensive backline that set an MLS all-time low of 20 goals allowed
for the entire regular season. Often overlooked was Olave’s improving ability
in the opponent’s penalty area, his danger on set pieces providing RSL with
three tallies this season, good for a tie for 5th on the squad’s
scoring chart.

While Olave is the
first member of Real Salt Lake to capture the Defender of the Year honor, a
pair of others with RSL ties have also claimed the award – current assistant
coach Robin Fraser is one of three players to have earned the honor
twice (1999 with Los Angeles and 2004 with Columbus), while RSL alum Eddie
Pope captured the award in 1997 as a member of D.C. United.

Olave joins the
short-list of Real Salt Lake players that have garnered end-of-season awards
from Major League Soccer, adding to a group that includes Will Johnson
(2008 Goal of the Year), Jeff Cunningham (2006 Golden Boot and Best XI
Team), Chris Klein (2006 Fair Play Award), and Brian Kamler (2005
Humanitarian of the Year). There could be more hardware heading to the Wasatch
Front across the next week, as FW Álvaro Saborío is one of three
finalists for the MLS Newcomer of the Year award that will be announced next
Wednesday, while Head Coach Jason Kreis is among the trio of candidates
for the MLS Coach of the Year honor, which will be named a day later.

MLS Defender of the
Year Award Winners

2010: Jamison Olave – Real Salt Lake

2009: Chad Marshall – Columbus Crew

2008: Chad Marshall – Columbus Crew

2007: Michael Parkhurst – New England
Revolution

2006: Bobby Boswell – D.C. United

2005: Jimmy Conrad – Kansas City Wizards

2004: Robin Fraser – Columbus Crew

2003: Carlos Bocanegra – Chicago Fire

2002: Carlos Bocanegra – Chicago Fire

2001: Jeff Agoos – San Jose Earthquakes

2000: Peter Vermes – Kansas City Wizards

1999: Robin Fraser – Los Angeles Galaxy

1998: Lubos Kubik – Chicago Fire

1997: Eddie Pope – D.C. United

1996: John Doyle – San Jose Earthquakes

MLS 2010 Awards Announcements Schedule(Schedule subject to change)

November 3:
Rookie of the Year (Andy Najar – D.C. United), Fair Play Individual (Sebastian
Le Toux – Philadelphia Union) & Team of the Year (San Jose Earthquakes),
and Goalkeeper of the Year (Donovan Ricketts – LA Galaxy)

November 5:Visa Defender of the Year (Jamison Olave – Real Salt Lake) and adidas
Referee of the Year (Kevin Stott)/Assistant Referee of the Year (Craig Lowry)

November 8:
MLS W.O.R.K.S. Humanitarian of the Year

November 10: Newcomer and Comeback Player of the Year

November 11: MLS Coach of the Year

November 15: 2010 MLS Best XI

November 17: AT&T Goal of the Year and NAPA Auto Parts Save of the
Year